Although there is no evidence that Stoker ever visited the castle, it does have a very dark history.

Stoker’s Dracula was based on an actual villain, Vlad the Impaler. In the 1400s, Vlad ruled Transylvania. He was a terrifying and cruel ruler and responsible for 80,000 deaths- mostly those who opposed his reign. Dracula was actually his father’s name.

Vlad, proving to be a fearless warrior (there had to be better ways) invoked a terrifying psychological warfare as a way of intimidating his people. As you can probably guess, his nickname “Vlad the Impaler” was given due to the fact he like to impale his victims on shape spikes throughout his lands. What makes it even more gruesome is that he put them on the top of the spike, alive, and let gravity pull them down. Bit of a sadist. His most offensive and horrific torture was reserved for women, especially pregnant women. There are records that indicated he drink his victims’ blood and dined on elaborate feasts next to those slowly sliding down the spikes. Evil. Pure evil.

At the time, the area was quite lawless, so some historians believe his methods were necessary. Some Romanians still view him as a hero. WHAT? uh… ok. I’m open to discussion, but it’s going to be hard to sway me to believe he was anything but a monster.

Anyway, back to Bran Castle. It is often thought to be the official home of the fictitious Dracula, however, there is a very vague connection to the book, the author, or Vlad the Impaler. It was used by Vlad as fortified citadel on the fight with Turks after he conquired Brasov in 1460. Towards the end of the 13th century, it was taken over by the Saxons in that region in order to protect the City of Brasov, an important trade center. It would seem, from doing some research, that Vlad only spent a short time on the castle grounds.

Bran Castle continues to make top ten lists for “Most Haunted Castle in Europe” and is only second to Leap Castle in Ireland.

You can watch an episode of Ghost Hunter’s International who investigated Bran Castle here (it’s very fun to watch, especially today!): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cuAHk4mSeA

The Castle’s Official website is here: http://www.bran-castle.com. Be sure to watch the home page video, it’s breathtaking.

Dalhousie Castle (Edinburgh, Scotland) was built in 1247. This fabulous fortress was home to the Ramsey Clan for over 850 years. Sometime in the 16th century, there lived a teenage girl by the name of Lady Catherine Ramsey. Lady Catherine fell madly in love with boy who worked at the castle. As you can probably predict, her parents did not approve. In typical teenage fashion, Catherine locked herself in her room and refused to eat. She eventually died of starvation!

There’s a great creepy mini movie on Catherine and her ghost story here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aq74DXr2aAU

Naturally, her ghost haunts the castle. She has been seen gliding through the halls in gray, sliding down the stairs, lurking in the dungeons and traveling through corridors.

Dalhousie was converted to a hotel and spa sometime in the 1970s. YOu can book your stay here: http://dalhousiecastle.co.uk with a full history here: http://dalhousiecastle.co.uk/history/

Situated in the Lungau region of Salzburg, Austria sits the very creepy Moosham Castle, otherwise known as The Witches Castle. It got its’ devious nickname from the fact that hundreds of witches were executed (beheaded) and thousands more were tortured and imprisoned.

Villagers believed that witches lived among them- hence a hysteria that lasted for 15 years. Between 1675 and 1690 men, women and even children were arrested and brought to the castle. Many of whom are said to still haunt the place. Prisoners’ ages ranged from 10 to 80 years old, and 92 of the executions were on victims under the age of 21- most of them were just beggars who had no one to vouch for their character. They often admitted to false charges just to stop the torture.

Another strange bit about this location- in the 1800s, mutilated deer and cattle were found throughout the grounds, leading some to speculate that werewolves roamed the hills.

Official Castle Website here (check out the photos!) http://www.schlossmoosham.at

Who’s coming with me?

More on the Salzburg Witch Trials here: http://www.witchcraftandwitches.com/trials_salzburg.html

More on creepy European Castles here: https://loco2.com/blog/most-haunted-europes-creepiest-castles

This story took place in New Brunswick. In the 1870s, the area was plagued with turmoil- bad crops, tuberculosis, harsh weather, etc. Like most witch hunts and executions, these factors led to extreme paranoia. People felt the need to blame their hardships on something or someone, usually evil forces and witches.

The blame eventually turned to a local girl named Rebecca Lutes. She was hung and buried at the base of the tree from which she was executed on January 2, 1876. She was sixteen. The young farm girl’s body was placed face-down in the grave, so that if she were to dig herself out, she’d be digging downward- a slow route to hell. They also took the time to cover her with concrete.

There is much more to this story, and a LOT of suspicious details. You can read about it here: http://mynewbrunswick.ca/folklore/rebeccas-concrete-grave/

Mary Bateman (1768 – 1809), also known as “The Yorkshire Witch” was a fascinating woman to say the least. Reading her story, I find myself wondering what led her to do what she did, to make the decisions she made, or to lead the life she led. I’m sure it was all out of necessity, but good lord- it took some… well… balls, big balls to even attempt half of this stuff.

Ok, so here’s the story. Mary was the daughter of a farmer in Asenby, North Yorkshire. She went to work as a servant girl when she was around 10 or 12, but got fired for petty theft (I kind of wonder if she was killing small animals at this point.) During the 1780s, she managed to convince a bunch of people she had supernatural powers (who’s to say she didn’t, right?) Her fortunetelling career took off- which led to a side business of potion making and magical remedies. All of which made her some decent money.

Here’s the fun part. In 1806, Mary claimed to have (and I’m not making this up) THE PROPHET HEN OF LEEDS. The prophet hen laid eggs which predicted the end of the world. Villagers believed that doomsday had arrived when all the eggs spelled out “Christ is Coming”. Well, it was clearly a hoax. Investigators discovered that she was writing the message in acid and re-inserting them into the hen. Ouch.

That same year, Rebecca Perigo and her husband William hired Bateman to reverse what they thought was a curse on Rebecca. Mary took the job and began feeding the couple a secret pudding to rid them of evil magic. What they didn’t know was that the pudding was laced with poison. Rebecca died as a result. William Perigo continued to pay for Bateman’s services even after the death of his wife- that is, until he finally realized he was being taken and reported her to the police.

She denied everything, but was found guilty of fraud and murder. She tried to avoid execution by claiming she was pregnant, but this too was a lie.

And because it IS Halloween, I will include the GORY ending to this story. After her execution, strips of her skin were sold as a magic charms to ward off evil spirits. WHAT?

As the first female postmaster in Germany, Katharina was a well-known citizen of Cologne. Her and her brother Harger Henot inherited the post office from their father.

From 1626 to 1631 the city was in turmoil over a great witch hunt. When a nun at one of the convents became possessed (maybe it was “the change”) rumors flew and Katharina and her brother Harger were accused of bringing death and disease to the convent by use of magic. She was thrown in jail and denied bail.

She was tortured and beaten, but denied everything. Harger tried to get her freed- but he was unsuccessful. Katharina was found guilty (in a very suspicious trial) and burned at the stake. After her death, it was proven that she was a victim of a conspiracy from the authorities of Cologne who had wanted a central post office system.

Harger continued to try and clear her name even after Katharina’s execution (murder), but he too was named as a witch (luckily, he was spared.)

Here’s the really cool part: in 2012 (yes- 2012) the city council of Cologne exonerated Katharina Henot and the other victims of that witch trial. A beautiful statue of her sits on top of City Hall Tower.

Say Hello to Anne of Denmark. She is NOT the accused witch, but very relevant to a witch story.

In 1590, The Danish courts’ resources were depleted due to numerous witch trials, meaning, it was a very touchy subject. James VI happened to be in town to meet his betrothed… Anne of Denmark. On this visit, he was privy to some of these trials and displayed a strong interest in the proceedings.

Soon after, Anne and her entourage set sail for Scotland where she was to be officially married. However, a giant wall of dangerous storm forced her and her fleet to take shelter in Oslo. James came to her rescue and the two were married at the Old Bishop’s Palace on November 23, 1589.

Had to be witches right? A paranoid witch hunt ensued and Anna Koldings, along with 5 other women confessed, under torture of course, to using black magic to bring on the storms- disturbing Anne’s voyage. They went as far as to say that devils were sent to crawl up the keel of the ship.

Anna Koldings, along with twelve other women were burned at the stake in Copenhagen for sending the storms that interfered with a royal voyage. Wow. just… wow.

Not sure of the timing, but right around the time of the burning, Anne of Denmark- entered Edinburgh in a solid silver coach, with James riding alongside on horseback. Smiling, no doubt.

As you may know, James was a well-documented witch-hunter. Historians believed this was due to his exposure to the trials going on in Denmark. When he was back in Scotland, he launched his own investigation and trials. He accused several women of sending the storms to disrupt his union with Anne. Specifically, Agnes Sampson.

Methinks James was a bit of a sadist as he actively participated the torture of women accused of witchcraft. Kinda makes your stomach turn.

In 1477 Antoine Rose (also known as the Witch of Savoy, France) confessed, under torture, that she regularly met with the devil. The records state:

“The first time she was taken to the synagogue, she saw many men and women enjoying themselves and dancing backwards. The Devil, whose name was Robinet, was a dark man who spoke in a hoarse voice. Kissing Robinet’s foot in homage, she renounced God and the Christian faith. He put his mark on her, on the little finger of her left hand, and gave her a stick, 18 inches long, and a pot of ointment. She used to smear the ointment on the stick, put it between her legs and say, “Go, in the name of the Devil, go!” At once she would be carried through the air to the synagogue. The pictures of witches riding on a besom are therefore a polite interpretation of the truth.”

This was the second confession on record in which a witch said he/she flew on a broom. The first being that of an accused male witch, Guillaume Edelin.

Nerd is the Word!

I love studying quirky history, so illustrating the people I research makes me one happy nerd girl. Did you know Queen Victoria had Bishopophobia? or that when Elizabeth of Russia died, they found 15,000 dresses in her uh... closet?

It's good stuff- and I plan to illustrate all the royal weirdos I can find.

All illustrations are my personal property- if you'd like to use them, just ask!